


WHAT IF...

by GODESTof3WORLDS



Series: AU's [2]
Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: AU - What if..., Gen, Other Additional Tags to Be Added, Platonic Relationships, bored author, everyone is STRAIGHT!!!
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-06-28
Updated: 2020-08-16
Packaged: 2021-03-04 12:27:07
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 5
Words: 12,168
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24969685
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/GODESTof3WORLDS/pseuds/GODESTof3WORLDS
Summary: What if Zarkon pulled a Thanos and adopted a daughter...What if Kolivan hid his emotions because he lost something dear to him...What if the paladins met the BoM sooner, like season 1 episode 1...What if Ulaz didn't free Shiro, but someone else...-OR-I play around a little with the plot because I'm bored and I don't have any other ideas for my other works
Relationships: Voltron Paladins & Voltron Paladins
Series: AU's [2]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1792999
Comments: 6
Kudos: 51





	1. Annalise

**Author's Note:**

> This chapter is honestly just letting the reader get to know my OC, but the actual context that involves the paladins will start when Keith is looking for his lion in the next chapter.  
> Hope you enjoy!  
> :)

What if I was to tell you that my childhood was horrible, terrible. Regular kids didn’t have their parents fighting a war against a tyrant that has taken over the universe for 10,000 years now. Many kids didn’t see their mom die right in front of them by the said tyrant, and never saw their father again while he was on a mission only at the age of four. What if I was to tell you that I saw my mom died that I might have blown up the house by my power and surprised the tyrant,  Zarkon , so much that he took me from my home and trained me to become a soldier for the empire.

By the time I was eight, I knew how to fight with any type of weapon given to me, and I could take down a large army of any species. I did studies what humans would call college level, being fluent in five languages plus common, knowing the basics of another five modern languages, and knowing the basics of three dead languages. I also learned my home planet’s language, English. I had the title of being the daughter of Zarkon, but I know he is no father of mine. I would never forget the look my mom had in her last seconds of life. 

By age ten I was considered the champion in the arena, and one of the witch’s favorite  experimental toys she loved to play on. I also know how to control my power that I had and could use it to fight. I was taught by the druids on how to use my power, but I never let my mind get  caught up in their tricks, knowing that I might not make it if it did. I went on ‘diplomatic’ trips to planets, making them surrender or  threaten them into joining. The only other person I knew that was not one of my teachers,  Zarkon , Haggar, or any guards was  Zarkon’s actual son,  Lotor , but we never got along once he figured  out, I was more important than he was.

By age twelve, I escaped that place once Haggar finally finished her  experiments on me and finally ‘enhanced’ me. I knew what was next in her plans, and I did not want my mind to be played with so I could be a soldier for the empire. I had my knife that my mother had, but it had the rare metal called  Lexrite and I knew I had to go find the secret organization my mother and father worked at and help them finish the empire. When I did find them, I had to go through the trials, and once I awakened my blade, I was accepted to be a blade, but I had to go through training, become the best in every class, but  exceeding in piloting, hand-to-hand, and using any type of blade.

By age fifteen, I was the number one blade, passing even the leader of the blades,  Kolivon , who became like an  _ actual  _ father figure in my life. I learned how to program, being able to hack into any system in the universe, and  engineering , knowing a little more than the basics. I also got to spice up the kitchen a little with my cooking and became the chief when I wasn’t either doing missions, or training. I became a leader of a small  infiltration team that  consisted of Ven, Snit, and  Dulna . I learned how to increase my piloting skills with  Thace , learning how to beat any  species while half asleep by  Antok , and learning everything that  consists of healing, and any book knowledge from  Ulaz . I also learned about all leader skills from  Kolivon , but also how to control my power I have.

By age sixteen, I went to Earth for the first time, knowing that a former blade left the blue lion safe here after she went back to her other mission. After I found it in a cave, and hearing the lion say it was waiting for  its paladin to come, I went back to the blades to report, and went back to my missions and training. I have finally learned on how to use my quintessence and able to  manipulate it. 

By age seventeen, I was captured by the empire, and taken to  Zarkon and the witch. I went back to the arena, seeing that the ‘Champion’ was one the famous pilot from  Earth , Takashi  Shirogani . Once I got the chance, I was able to get the Champion escape instead of  Ulaz because I know that he will have more use in central command than hiding at one of the bases. After my punishment, I was taken to  Zarkon himself.

“Daughter, you disappoint me, who do you  quiznacking think you are?” he  roared at me.

I just smirked as I raised myself from my knees, “I am  Annalise, daughter of Megg, and Zug, a  Galran ,  Altean , Human  half-breed, ” 


	2. FRIEND or FOE?

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> While looking for the red lion, the voltron team finds someone who could either be a great ally for the voltron team, or an arch enemy.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry it took me a while to write, but I been busy, and I couldn't think of anything  
> Hopefully it's good...

Voltron.

It has come back, or well, more like trying to come back at least.  Ulaz just said that the blue, and yellow lion has been awakened and the red lion which is on this ship.  _ There might be the purple lion,  _ but that might not be true because no one has really seen, it’s just in the notes of the old that there might have been a failed attempt in trying to make the lions, but the notes could be wrong. 

I run down the halls, trying to stay away from any sentries and any soldiers because once they see me, the whole ship will be on high alert, and I really don’t want that. These slave clothes are really horrible for trying to run around the ship in, but I can’t exactly change into my other clothes, since they are more for showing off. It was honestly just a teared-up shirt with holes on it with a burnt black shirt, and pants that had holes. Once I walk through the maze of halls, I finally find the room I'm looking for, the one where the red lion is resting.

I walk in with my knife out, but not in  its awakened state. I run over to the lion and put my hand on the barrier, then my forehead just rests on it. I don’t really expect it to do anything, I'm no paladin, it’s just I know it will be the last time I see her and might feel actual  calming heat then the type I’ll feel from the  druid's magic.

“Hey girl, I'm going to get you out okay, you need to find your paladin, and I'm pretty sure they are not here on this ship,” I lean away from the barrier, but I don’t take my hand off of it just yet, “I’m going to plant an explosion on that wall, and I'm going to need you to go find your paladin,” I say as I finally take my hand off of the barrier.

I hear her speak to me, something I kind of got quit used to because I could hear the other lions, but mostly the red and black ones for some reason. I could hear the other ones too, but their presentence just gives purrs, and growls while I can see images, and hear words being formed with the other two, but I see an image of a person with the traditional paladin armor that came in here, but when I walked in they hid -

“You can come out red paladin, I know you’re there,” I shout to behind the lion, “I’m not going to hurt you, I'm not even a part of the empire,”

I hear some shuffling, then I see someone who wears a red and white suit come out of their hiding place. Once he gets a good look at  me, he pauses, and I could see his eyes widen behind his helmet.

“Y-you’re human,” he says as he takes off his helmet.

_ Wow.  _ Not expecting that, how could a human be way out here, that backwater planet couldn’t  even get out of  its own solar system, how could he be way out here, unless.

A smile crosses my face once I connect the dots, “I’m guessing Takashi Shirogane got back to his home world,” I say with a tilt of my head.

“H-how do you know his name?” the human asked.

I shake my head, “I fought him a few times in the arena, really good, has spirit, but he was the champion, and I’m the one who got him out,” with a shrug  of my shoulders I get a good look at the human.

His raven like hair is longer than usual with bangs that keeps going in his purple eyes.  _ Huh, never saw those on Earth.  _ He has pale skin and it seems that his weapon is a sword, interesting.

“I’m  going to guess that you are the paladin to this lion,” I nod my head to the red lion, who seems to purr.

“Yeah, this is the last lion we need to get before we have all the lions and could form Voltron,”

I nod my head, remembering the legend of the greatest warrior that would stop the empire’s reign of terror that has lasted for 10,000 years now. The  ship then shook under our feet, and I stumble a little to the console while the human just presses himself to the barrier. 

“You need to get her out of here before Sendak realizes that someone is trying to take the lion,” I said as I go over to the console where I know I could control the explosion of the bombs, when I hear sentries coming, “I really hope you could fight because we are about to have company,” 

The door bursts open with sentries storming through, their guns all ready to fire.

“Put your hands up intruder, and prisoner A114e,” I just keep typing faster, “If you don’t surrender to the empire in five ticks, we will fire,”

“Ticks?”

“Seconds,” I said as I quickly put in the code, “I need you to cover me with your  shield as I try to get some information,” I am a blade after all, I’ll just give it to the red paladin and they should have the information they’ll need.

The human is in front of me, and his shield is activated once the sentries reach five, “ Your father would be very disappointed,” then shots started to be fired. 

I put in the chip and I started trying to get in the walls of the defense as quickly as I could, trying to tune out the danger around me. 

“Come on, come on,” I repeated as I tried to find the crack so I could use it-

Their defenses were down, so I could get the code, and I saw that beautiful purple bar start loading the information on the chip. Just a few more ticks.

“My  shield isn’t going to hold up much longer,” the human said.

I looked over my shoulder and saw that his shield does seem to be flickering, which means we don’t have much time before it completely goes out. I looked back down at the console as it was just being half way done. 

“I’m going to do something, so when I give you the signal, you will bring down your shield, and go behind me,” I said as the bar reaches 55%.

“You’re crazy, you’ll be vulnerable,” the human  countered .

“Thank you, I know what I'm doing,” I say to him, “ _ I hope, _ ” I mumbled under my breathe.

“What?”

“Nothing. Get ready, set,” I wait for the bar to get at 63% to shout “Now!” 

He brings down his shield and we trade places as I quickly make a big ball of electricity, taking it from the ship itself, then shooting it towards the sentries like a wave of light bringing down the robots. I grit my teeth as I feel my quintessence weaken as the sentries all fall. Once they are  down, I stop the attack and almost fully collapse, thankfully the human was able to catch me before I hit the ground.

“ Wh-wha -” he stammered a little as he looked at the sentries, “What did you do?” he asked, and I groaned in pain, and tiredness.

“N-nothing m-much, but we should p-probably get out of here,” I said as I stumbled up to my feet.

“K- th , h-! Sh-o –wn. Ne- back up n-” a voice said in the red paladin’s com that had static every other  syllable.

“We need to go back to where the prisoners are at, that’s where Pidge and Shiro are at,” said Keith as he went toward the door.

I just nodded as I went to quickly get the chip with the information, and follow the red paladin. The halls were surprising quiet, just the  echoes of their footsteps. There was then a fork in the halls, and I hear the human groan.

“Now where do we go?” he said mostly to himself, but I could hear it clear as day.

“To the right, then take the second left, and another right, and we should be in the chamber where the  low-class , and middle-class  prisoners should be at, only  high-ranking guards and prisoners would know where the other cells, they don’t have that in the computers,” I explain simply as I follow my own direction with the right and continue through the maze of halls.

“Then, were you a  high-ranking prisoner?” the red paladin asked.

“Yeah,” I simply respond as we take the second left, about to take a right when he asked his next question.

“Who are you?”

“I’m Annalise,” we stop before we take a right when I hear voices.

“-got the green paladin, and the champion I see,” I hear two guards who would sometimes guard my cell,  Ivak , and Kilo,

“I think  Zarkon would gladly love to have back his champion and the green paladin,” Kilo snickered as he raised the green paladin by the neck of her suit.

“This would  _ hopefully  _ put us back in his good gracious since the guards seemed to lost his  _ daughter _ _ , _ ”  Ivak said as he easily picked up the  unconscious black paladin, which I’m going to guess is the black paladin. 

“We need to get them,” the human said as he quietly pulled out his sword.

“I can kill them both if you can make sure your black paladin is okay, and ready to leave quickly,” I unsheathed my blade and let it awaken to its full length of a sword.

“No, you  won't be able to take them both out in your condition,” he whispered harshly, and I just grinned.

“Just watch,” I say with a sly grin before I look back to the two galras, waiting for the right moment.

“She hasn’t left  yet; no pods have left, so she has to still be here,” said Kilo.

“Let’s just-”

He never got to finish his sentence as I quickly took him out, catching the green paladin and putting her behind.

“Well, well, well,” said  Ivak as he raised both his guns at the red paladin and I, “If it isn’t the red paladin, and oh, looks like the daughter of  Zarkon ,” he slyly said.

“I am no daughter of his,” I growled, and I could see the green paladin from the corner of my eye take a step away from me.

“Well, I see we all know who will win this little draw, now do we princess,”

I sighed as I straighten myself, “I see that we do, how about I give you to the count of five for you to walk away before I say five, and I’ll let you live,” I smiled.

“I’m the one with the gun to both you and your back up, how will you win,”  Ivak said as he raised both of his guns higher on our heads.

“One,” I started, “Two,”

“You are just another charity case that knows how to fight, and could do  sparkles with your  fingertips, but you are not the best fighter in the universe like  Zarkon boasts about, ”

I just snarl out, “Five,” skipping the other numbers and I quickly enhance. Every time I do it, I know that my eyes turn a bright shade of yellow unlike my brown eyes, and I get my altean marks that are a dark purple.

When I do enhance, I know the abilities I have. I can see better, I can run at top speed, and you won’t see me, I am about fifty times stronger, and I know that my quintessence also grows much stronger. I rush the guard, yanking the gun out of his hand, and then pulling his left arm behind his back with a  _ crack  _ and unsheathing my knife and pushing it through his throat, and quickly taking it out and let go of his arm as he goes limp.

Once I un-enhance, I stumble backwards and grab my side where the last experiment mostly occurred at where the witch tried to see if I had any weak spots in my quintessence after I a broken a rib cage from the arena. 

“Um...” I heard the green paladin say.

“ Wh -where is  th -the black p- aladin ?” I asked as I leaned on the wall of the ship.

“Oh,” she said as she went to the cell where the other prisoners were held at. 

She easily opened the door, and the prisoners came out while the small paladin went in, then came out with what seems like a half- conscious man in the same armor. One of the slaves came toward me, Liki.

“How are you?” she asked as she put her hand on my shoulder.

“Oh, you know, the usual,” I responded right before my legs gave out and I slid to the ground.

She gave out her hand and easily grabbed it as she helped me up. Then I felt it, a roar from the red lion as an image of  something in cloaks...

“ Someone is with the red lion,” the red paladin announced.

“Druids,” I responded as I let go of  Liki’s hand, “We have to hurry and get to the lion before they try to do something to it,”

“It took us about like ten minutes to get here,” the human said as he went for the door.

“I can get us there under a  dobash , I mean minute, if you trust me,” I said as I turned back to the red paladin.

Liki ran between me and the red paladin before he got to choose, “No, you’re too weak to go do it, and you won’t be able to kill it, it’s too dangerous,”

“I’ll be  fine; besides, I'm not going to try to kill it, just distract it long enough so they could get the red paladin out of here,” I reassured.

“What’s so dangerous?” the black paladin said.

“I’m just going to teleport to the chamber where the red lion is at, distract the druid, so the red paladin and lion could escape,” I said with a shrug  of my shoulders, “But, it means you’ll have to be okay if you lose some of your quintessence because I don’t have enough for the both of us,”

“What’s quintessence?” the green one asked.

“Our life force you could say, but you really need to hurry up with your choice before it’s too late,” 

“Fine,” the red one said.

With a nod of my head, he walked over, “Grab my arm paladin,”

“Keith,” he responded as he grabbed my arm.

“Well Keith, hold on,” I said before I  imagined where I wanted to go,  multiplate my own quintessence and Keith’s before we teleported.

“Woah,” he said before he stumbled backwards, as I just grabbed the wall, “You’re okay there, you look a little pale,”

“I should be, we’re just about to go in,” I said as I grabbed my knife and awakened it while Keith seemed to have recognized something before he teared his eyes from the blade and looked at me, “Once we go in, you need to go and get the red lion to let you pilot her,”

“Okay,” he said with a nod.

“Stay hidden until you see us start um, well...” what should he wait for? “Um, you’ll see,” I say before I walked to the door and put my hand on the scanner as it opened up, and I could feel the druid’s  disguising presence in the room.

“Well, well, well,” croaked out the druid who’s voice I remembered that used to creep me out when I was younger, “The daughter of the emperor of the universe finally comes out of hiding I see,” he croaked as I moved a few steps closer, but was still on the other side of the room.

“I don’t really think I am the daughter of the emperor,” I responded as I took a few steps closer as well.

“Didn’t he adopt you?”

“More like abducted me, but I’m sure you know that already, weren’t you the one who had to collect me?” I asked with a tilt of my head to my left.

“Yes, and I was the one to teach you how to use your power you have there,” he croaked with a sly grin, “Let’s see how good you are,” he says before he  disappears , and I follow him in the quintessence field. 

Being in a quintessence field is weird. Because of my  Altean powers, I feel like I'm a needle in a compass. I react to nearby quintessence, which is pretty much everything that makes the universe. A compass usually points toward a magnetic field, like either the north or south pole, but in a quintessence field where you could actually sense, and multiplate it, you feel like you could sense all of it. You feel like you are being pulled by an unknown force,  being sucked into nothingness and everything in the universe all at once. 

The first time I was in one, I almost died. I got lost, I got stuck in the current of the quintessence and almost got sucked into the life force of the universe. I could feel myself be pulled in about  hundreds , thousands different directions, and when you die in a field of  quintessence it’s a long process of death, and you could feel every cell, every molecule, every atom being pulled, and teared until there is nothing left of you.

It's a lot harder to actually fight in a quintessence field because of the way you could  multiplate it to your advantage, being able to pass through the time of universe itself, being able to fold space and pass. 

“I can feel you,” the druid croaked out in a menacing voice.

Then, I feel an evil that I only felt with all evil  entities . “So, can I,” I announce before I turn around and dodge of a ball of electricity aiming for my head.

I flick my sword as I attack the druid. He just simply moves, but I could tell that if we keep fighting in this field, I don’t think I'll win. I could already feel my strength seeping away, I feel sluggish, but this is why the druid wanted to fight here, because it knew that I was not at my full strength.

“I honestly do not know how you are one of the best fighters here, but so was the champion, so maybe it’s your mom’s people, or was it your dad? I never met any of them, so I never got to ask,” he snarled.

Then, I feel an electrical ball come towards, me so I grabbed, making me move backwards a little. Then I see a leg coming up for me, that hits me right in the gut-

I got kicked out of the field and into the metal wall where there might be a dent. Ow. I lean against the wall and use it to help me stand. I looked at the druid, and then I saw Keith who seems to still be outside of the barrier and was watching the fight, then I hear a voice, the red  lion .

_ He needs to prove to me before I let him in... _

_ Really, now is not a good time to be _ _ quiznacking _ _ picky. _

_ If not,  _ _ then _ _ our bond can never be strong, it’s just forced... _

Before I could respond I saw the druid disappear before he reappeared behind me, but luckily, I turned around in time and extended my blade to block the attack, just for me to throw my own ball of power that turned into fire, only narrowly missing him.

_ “You have  _ _ definitely _ _ gotten better in  _ _ controlling _ _ it,”  _ the eerily creepy voice said out of nowhere,  _ “But will it be enough to defeat me,” _

I closed my eyes, trying to sense the druid when I felt its presence move in the quintessence field. It was more of an aura that usually surrounds people in the quintessence field, their power depends on how dark their aura is, like a  darker one is really strong, and a lighter toned one is weaker. His was in the middle of the spectrum, but a little closer to the lighter side. I followed him, until I knew I was ready to strike. 

I awakened my blade until it was in its sword form, then I disappeared. I was ready going in when balls of energy started to be thrown at me. I ducked and weaved, through the balls of quintessence until I could get a head start, and I dashed towards the druid. Once I was close enough, I jumped up, and I pulled down my sword onto the druid, hitting him in his mask. The mask broke and I saw the malicious face behind.

I didn’t hesitate when I did a reverse sidekick to him, pushing him back enough for me to raise my sword over my head and throw it to the malicious druid, and strike him where his heart should be. The face looked shocked before he disappeared in a swirl of black quintessence. 

I waited a second to make sure he really died, but when I felt no life  force, I sheathed my sword and walked over to the red lion and her paladin.

“How is she?” I asked once I could put my hand on her barrier.

“She’s not responding even though I. Am. Her. Paladin,”

Then there were shots being fired at us from incoming sentries. Keith quickly put up his shields and started to cut down the sentries to the right, as I went to the left, but he got overwhelmed quickly and got kicked to the controls, then I followed once I got distracted.

As I got up, he was looking down at the controls, and then looked to me, but I knew what he was thinking as the laser shots continued to rain down on us. I nodded my head, and quickly grabbed onto the handle of the control as he pushed the button.

Three things happened in less than a few minutes when he pushed that button. 

Number one, the bombs exploded as planned in the hanger, making a big hole that was sucking everything in the hanger. 

Number two, with my energy sucked up from using my quintessence in the fight, my grip slipped from the handle when Keith caught me, but the universe hates us and a box hits the control and he lost his grip on the handle, making us lost in the universe.

Number three, the red lion roared, and went out to catch her red paladin, which  luckily, I was next to when she caught us in her jaw.

“Um, Keith did you get the red lion?” I hear one of the paladins who has dark skin in a yellow suit sheepishly ask.

“Yeah,” Keith simply responded when another screen popped up, revealing what seems to be another Cuban looking human with blue eyes wearing a blue suit.

“Who is that person behind you?” he asked before he smirked and did finger guns in my  direction , “The name’s Lance,” he said.

“I tell you guys once we get back to the castle,” the red paladin said as he quickly turned off the screen with what seemed to be the blue paladin, “Um, I am pretty sure that we will ask you a lot of questions, so um, I am sorry in advance,” the red paladin  apologized .

I just shake my head, “It’s fine,” I simply responded with a nod of my head as he turned around and piloted us back to Arus.

Once we landed, we silently go the mouth of the lion and exited the lion... to only be bombarded with questions from left and right from mainly the green, blue, and yellow paladins until a voice interrupted them.

“Guys, give her some space,” said the black paladin.

The three paladins did listen their leader, but all looked like if he was to leave the room, they would go right back at it. Ahead of me was the paladins of Voltron, and what seemed to be two  Altean . The  Altean with long, fluffy white hair and dark skin with pink markings under her blue eyes stepped forward.

“I am Princess Allura of Altea. Before we go further into the introductions, I just have one question,” she studied me for a second before she asked her question, “are you friend or foe to Voltron?”

I place my hands behind my back and straighten myself so I could look her in the eye when I state my answer, “I am a friend to Voltron,” it was short and simple, only six words, but I could see the princess relax a little, and like a wave, so did the others.

“Okay, then what is your name?” she asked when she put her hands in front of her.

“My name is Annalise,” I say before the castle’s alarm start blaring.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sooooooo, how was it?  
> PLEASE! leave a COMMENT! Or maybe KUDOS!  
> ̿̿ ̿̿ ̿̿ ̿'̿'\̵͇̿̿\з= ( ▀ ͜͞ʖ▀) =ε/̵͇̿̿/’̿’̿ ̿ ̿̿ ̿̿ ̿̿


	3. Voltron & Annalise talk...

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Voltron has to defeat the galra cruiser that's in Arus' atmosphere, but they still have many questions for Annalise.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I have no idea what to call this chapter, but if you think of something else, please leave in the comments below  
> :)

“It’s the  galra ,” the princess said before she rushes out of the hanger and we all follow her down the halls and, in the bridge, where it seemed that Sendak was hailing. 

“Hello princess,” he cruelly said with a wicked smile, “ I see you have some things that belong to me,”

“And what will that be?” the princess asked as she crossed her arms.

“The red lion was mine before you stole it,” he started, “and prisoner A114E, or Annalise if you like that better,” I saw everyone steal quick glances, but I just glared at Sendak.

“Sendak,” I growled, “I don’t belong to you,” 

He just shook his head, “You belong to Zarkon, your father,” I just growl again and I'm pretty sure my eyes turn yellow for a split second.

I see that everyone either takes a step away from or gasps in surprise, “He’s no father to me,” I growl out my answer.

He just smirks, “You are to the rest of the universe, but  Ill make a deal with you Princess Allura, hand me over the lions and Annalise, and  _ I _ leave you alone on this planet, final offer for you to live a few more quintants,”

She straightens her back when she answers, “I will never willingly give my lions to the  galra ,”

“Does this mean you’ll give me prisoner A114E,” he said with a smirk.

“No,” this time the black paladin spoke, “We will not give you the  voltron lion  _ or  _ Annalise,” I release a breathe of relief I didn’t know I was holding.

“Then you chose to die,” and with that last statement the screen turned off.

There was silence for five ticks, until the castle shook, and we saw that the battle cruiser was firing at us.

“Guys, get to your lions now,” the princess yelled as she powered on the particle barrier.

I just backed up to the corner of the room, trying to be out of the way of the two  altean that were scrambling around the room. I looked up to the screen to see the lions frantically fighting all the fighter jets. 

“I don't see a "Combine into Giant Robot" button anywhere on my dashboard,” the yellow paladin says.

“This is insane! Can't they just cease fire for one minute so we can figure this out? Is that too much to ask?”

_ Yes.  _ I think to myself when the yellow paladin shouts “Combine!” and slams into the red lion, earning a shouted “Hey!” from the pilot. Then for some reason, a different type of alarm started to blare, and I looked up to the Alteans.

“Princess,” the one with the orange mustache said, “there seems to be an intruder in the castle,” he stated.

“ Quiznack ,” the princess said in response.

“I could go take them out,” I volunteered as I step away from the corner of the room, “I’m pretty sure I know why they are here,”

“To get the daughter of the emperor who has been controlling the universe for 10,000 years,” she spat, but I just glared back at her.

“You know nothing about me,” I simply said before we heard the screams from the Voltron pilots.

“Fine go deal with the intruder that you brought here in the second hall from the right of us,” she said before she turned back to the screen.

I ran out of the room, and took out of my blade, letting it extend. I ran down the halls, following the instructions she gave me until I heard someone speak, “We need to go find her before  Zarkon realizes we lost her again,” a male  galran said.

I waited until they got closer to my location before I swung my sword at a sentry, taking its head right off, then moving to the next enemy, cutting its arm off then stabbing it through the chest. They started to fire at me as I backflipped behind them and cut off the  sentries head until the only one who was left was an actual  galra who’s gun was aimed at my head.

“A-Annalise,” he stated, he was  definitely surprised.

“Yup,” I popped the ‘P’

“I need to bring you to him, if not he will kill me,” he pleaded.

“If you bring me to him,  _ I  _ will kill you,” I replied as I twirled my sword, waiting for his move.

“I rather die a noble death, and if that means attempting to capture his daughter than I would try to capture you,” he stated, “victory or death,” he stated as he raised the gun to my head and took aim.

I just sighed before I let my eyes turn a bright shade of yellow, putting away my blade, “Then you chose death,” I quickly ducked under the gun then let my hands shoot up and made the gun shoot upwards. I flipped the gun onto the  galra . His eyes widen momentarily before I shot him, and he was lifeless, leaving me alone in the hall with sentry scraps and a  lifeless body. 

I heard footsteps echoing from the direction of where the bridge was from. I quickly turned to the sound of it when I saw white hair and I quickly dropped the gun and made my eyes back to their regular state. By the time I dropped the gun and I changed the color of my eyes, the two  Alteans were running down the halls.

“They formed Voltron and defeated the  galra cruiser,” the man with the orange hair and bushy mustache with blue markings said in a hurry as he followed the princess down the hall.

I just followed them down the halls until we exited the castle, and I saw the other lions with their pilots in front of them. I lingered a  good few feet away from the group and crossed my arms in front of chest as the group talked.

“Good work, paladins,” the princess cheered.

“Thanks pretty lady,” the blue paladin stated.

“We did it,” the leader of Voltron said.

“Heck yeah we did,” the red paladin after he took off his helmet.

“How did we do it?” the black paladin asked.

“I was just, like, screaming the whole time, maybe that did it,” the yellow paladin huffed with a breathy laugh.

The black paladin touched the green paladin’s shoulder and said something I couldn’t hear, making the short paladin smile.

“We won the battle, but the war has only just begun. I'm afraid  Zarkon will not stop until he gets these Lions,” the princess stated in a regal matter.

“It’s a good thing you paladins know what you’re doing, because you’re going to have to form Voltron again and again,” the man with bright orange hair man stated.

  
“Totally—wait, what?” I heard the yellow questioned, and at this I face palmed.

“We barely survived forming Voltron this one time.” the blue one stated.

“And you only had to fight one ship. Wait until you have to fight a whole fleet of them! It's not going to be easy being the Defenders of the Universe.” the older Altean said.

“Defenders of the Universe, huh? That's got a nice ring to it,” he said as he looked up at their lions like they do in earth movies.

I looked up too, but I didn’t see anything there that wasn’t there before. I just shrugged my shoulders and looked down at the ground since the team seemed to be having a moment.

“um, what are we supposed to do with her now?” I heard one them asked.

At this, I raised my head to see all of their eyes on me. They seemed wary of me, which I did understand, but the staring was kind of awkward since I didn’t know any of them. I was used to be stared at, but I least known all of them and their intentions behind the stares. But I didn’t know them, and I didn’t know what their intentions were, so I was a bit creeped out.

“She’s the daughter of  Zarkon , that means we cannot trust her,” the princess stated.

I was about to say that I wasn’t biologically his daughter, and it was more like he abducted me after he killed my mom in front of me, but before I could say that, the green one spoke up.

“I think we could trust her, I mean she did save our lives, and helped Keith get the red lion, and one of the slaves seemed to have trusted her,” she said as she adjusted her glasses.

“Um, but what if she has a mission to trick us and kill us,” the yellow one suggested, and at this I laughed.

“What’s so funny?” the princess asked.

“It’s funny that you think  Zarkon would trust  _ me  _ with killing the paladins of Voltron. He would only trust me if he was completely in control of me, but the witch hasn’t figured that out yet,” I explained.

“How do we know that you are not  possessed then?” the blue one asked this time.

“Because if I was then I would have something robotic on the back of my skull, and I would be looking  galra ,” I stated as I touched where the object would be at, which made chills run down my spine.

“You said you save Shiro, is that true?” Keith asked this time.

“I am,” I answered with a nod.

“You’re the one who saved me?” the black paladin one asked, Shiro I'm guessing.

I just nodded my head, “If you get some of your memory back you would remember that I helped saved you, but we did fight in the arena as well,” 

“Arena?” the green one asked.

“We might want to go inside to talk about this since it’s getting dark, and I'm sure we have some questions about  _ you _ ,” the princess stated, and with that she walked back inside the castle, passing me without a look my way.

Everyone followed behind her, and I was at the back of the group where I kept getting looked at. The yellow and blue paladins kept looking back at me like I might try to kill them. The green seemed to look like I was the one with all the answers in the universe. The black one seemed to have a look of recognition while the red one seemed to keep looking at my hip where I keep my knife at.

Once we got to what seemed like a lounge, I was seated at one side of it, and the paladins plus the two  Alteans were on one side.

“So, um, the arena,” the green one asked.

“The arena is basically where slaves fight each other for high ranking  galra’s entertainment,” I said with a shrug, “That’s where I met Shiro. I was the champion before he came along, and once I realized who he was from my visit of Earth, let him beat me,” I stated.

“That might explain why you seem very familiar then,” Shiro said.

I just nodded my head to his comment.

“I have a question, you said that the arena is where slaves are held to fight, but I thought you were the daughter of  Zarkon , so how are you a slave then?” the yellow one asked.

I had a feeling someone would ask something along those lines, but I didn’t think it would have been this early in the conversation, that was  probally my doing.

“That’s because I'm not biologically his daughter, he more like abducted me from my home when he killed my mom, and then my anger got the best of me, and may have blown up the building I was in with my quintessence, and he decided to take me in to make me a soldier,” I stated simply though I clenched my fist at the end.

“That still doesn’t exactly explain why you are a slave,” the princess pointed out.

“I don’t exactly remember how old I was when I first went in the arena, but by the time I was the champion when I was ten,” I said and saw how pretty much everyone went a few shades paler at my statement, but I just  continued on my explanation.

“Once Haggar finished up on ‘enhancing’ on me I knew her next goal would be to take total control of mind because the best soldier is someone who you can control, so I left at age twelve, but I got captured again when I was seventeen, around the time Shiro and his team was captured, but because during the five years of my freedom I was the biggest threat to the empire because of my knowledge, and because of my skills, and I exploited all of them, but of course the emperor did not like it, so instead of the title of ‘Princess Annalise’ I got the title of ‘Traitor Annalise’” I spoke with a simple shrug  of my shoulders.

“H-how old are you?” the yellow one asked.

“Um, my birthday was, um, what’s the date?” I asked.

“It’s September in the year of 2314,” the green one asked.

“Then I would be eighteen, an adult in Earth years if I remembered correctly,” I stated simply.

“How would you know anything of Earth?” the blue one asked this time, “I mean I always love a girl who knows where I live,” he said as he wriggled his eyebrows, which I just rolled my eyes at.

“I’m part human-” 

“What's your other half?” the  Altean with orange hair asked this one.

I blinked once before I responded, “I am part human, part  galra , and part altean.”

Everyone just stared at me like I was crazy before the princess cleared her throat, “Y-you’re positive you are part  altean ?” she questioned with hope in her eyes.

I nod my head before I transform into my  Altean side of my heritage. I know I have dark purple marks with my hair grown longer and is completely black, my eyes are still the same brown color, but they have a hint of gold in the iris.

“I know that only  Alteans can transform, but since I am  mixed I can only change into  altean ,  galra , and human, which is my natural look,” I said before I changed back to looking human.

They all looked surprised, but the princess and the  Altean with orange hair seemed to be closed to tears. I just tilted my head in confusion. They have to know that I'm not just  Altean , I am only part of it, which comes from my mom’s side.

“Um,” the green one started, “Did you ever see the two humans who were with Shiro?” she asked with a small voice.

I nodded my head in response, “I did, they were Matt and Sam Holt, we were in the same prison, but Matt got taken to go fight in the arena, and Sam Holt was taken to go with the other slaves who couldn’t fight,” I stated, “But I do have information from Sendak’s ship, but I only have some of it, I didn’t have enough time to get all of it, but you could take a look,” I said.

“Thank you,” she sighed in relief.

“I have a question,” the yellow one asked, “How do we know that you are not mind controlled, because I know you have to have this machine, but what if you’re lying?” he asked.

“The princess would know if I'm lying, she could read my quintessence and would tell if I'm lying,” I said with a simple shrug.

The princess blinked in shocked before she nodded and closed her eyes and read my quintessence. I almost shut her out, but I had to remember that this wasn’t Haggar or any of the druids. Once she came back to it, her eyes seemed to be a dark shade of red, the little bit of my quintessence she was looking at. Once she blinked it disappeared  completely.

“She isn’t lying,” she stated.

Everyone looked back at me and I just shrugged my shoulders.

“Well, does this mean she’s part of the team?” the blue one asked.

“I really wouldn’t want to bother you guys in training or anything else that’s more important,” I said quickly because I really needed to get back to the Blade of Marmora and give them this information.

“Nonsense,” the older  Altean man said, “We could honestly use someone like you with all the information you have on the empire currently, and I have seen you fight, you are incredible,” he complimented and I just blinked at him because if I'm going to be honest that was very sloppy.

“I think it does mean she is part of the team,” the princess hesitantly said. She looked conflicted, which I'm not really surprise. I’m part of a race that has killed off her race and planet, but I'm also her own race and the paladin’s race. It's really confusing.

“We should probably do introductions then,” the black one said, “Takashi  Shirogane , but you could call me Shiro,”

“I’m Pidge,” the green one said.

“I’m Hunk,” the yellow one spoke.

“Keith,” he said, but I already knew his name.

“I’m the best pilot here and the ladies' man named Lance,” the blue one introduced.

“Coran Hieronymus  Wimbleton Smythe at your service, but you could just call me Coran,” the older  Altean introduced himself.

After a few silent ticks of awkward silence Coran stood up and said that it was getting late and we need our rest for training tomorrow. Everyone nodded, and followed Coran down the halls to our corridors. 

“Pidge, you’ll be the first door on the right. Lance you are the first door on the left,” he said to the green and blue paladins, “Hunk, you are next to Lance, as Shiro you are next to Pidge,” he instructed to the yellow and black paladins, “Keith, you are next to Shiro, and Annalise, you would be next to Hunk,” I just nodded my head as we went to our rooms.

Before I entered my room, someone cleared their throats behind me, and once I turned around, it was Shiro.

“Um, I just wanted to make sure you didn’t have anywhere you needed to be at,” he said.

There is somewhere I'm supposed to be, but I wasn’t going to tell him about a  _ secret  _ organization that has stay a secret because we told no one about us. “No,” I simply said with a small smile before I went into my room, and the door closed behind.

I looked around the room and saw there was two pairs of clothes on the bed. One seemed to be pajamas that was simply a dark purple night gown that passed my knees, and the other was a white tank top with black leggings. I put on the night gown and put my knife under my pillow. I do some light stretching and then I finally crawl under my blanket and closed my eyes. It didn’t take long before I fell in a dreamless sleep.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So, how was it?  
> This one was a little tricky in writing it, but I do hope I did okay on it.  
> PLEAAAASE leave either COMMENTS or KUDOS!!!  
> (ಥ﹏ಥ)


	4. Who are you?

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The paladins start their training to become the defenders of the universe when Allura and Annalise talk.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter was a little hard to write so I hope I did a decent job on it...  
> :)

A voice was yelling from the intercoms for us to hurry up, and that Zarkon was attacking. The shouting from the intercom awoke me from my slumber as I realized that Zarkon was attacking. I quickly grabbed by knife underneath my pillow, letting it extend to its sword form and teleported to the bridge. 

Once I got there it seemed that the princess was surprised by my presence, but Coran was in the middle of acting something out, making me realize that Zarkon wasn’t actually attacking. I just crossed my arms over my chest as I looked at Coran going on about how she died. I stifle a small laugh once I hear the footsteps of the new paladins when Coran started to talk to an imaginary head. 

“Her severed head is trying to speak to me! What is it, Allura's head? What are your final words?” he asked 

“Coran...” the princess started. 

“Oh, yes, Princess, I'm listening.” the altean man responded. 

“It's over.” 

“Oh, I know! Uaaaagh! If only Voltron had been formed...” he dramatically announced as he put his hand on his forehead as he leaned back, and finally saw the rest of us standing there, “-Oh, Time!” he shouted. 

“I guess this isn’t an actual attack,” Shiro questioned. 

“And it’s a good thing it wasn’t because it took you... Coran?” she asked the altean. 

“Seventy-five degrees. Oh sorry, that was a meat thermometer,” he said as we here a beep from it. 

“However long it was, it was too long. You must always be ready to do battle with Zarkon. Look at you! Only Shiro is in uniform. Keith, Pidge, Hunk, where are your Bayards? And where is Lance?” 

I raise my hand a little, “I don’t have any armor to where, or any fighting uniform of any sort, so what do I wear if there was an actual attack?” I asked before the blue paladin came in seeming refreshed with a cup of drink. 

“Good morning everybody. What did I miss?” he asked as he walked in with a blue robe while wearing blue lion slippers. 

“Coran and I have been up for hours getting the castle back to order, and we decided to test the alarms, and you as well, guess who failed?” the princess crossed her arms and huffed out the response, “Most of you are not in your armor,” 

“I don’t have anything to wear,” I murmured to myself. 

“It’s even worse that you guys don’t have anything to defend yourselves with,” she added another complaint. 

“I’m sorry princess, but most of us haven't been in an universal war and most of us are pretty young for our age,” the black paladin, and this made me look down. 

It's true, not everybody has been born into an endless war like I have been, not everyone has been the champion for a year and lost his crew, not everyone lost their planet, and their people. Half of us were born on a simple planet that wasn’t as complicated as this universe. 

"Hey!" Hunk said through a yawn, "You got to sleep for 10,000 years, man. Monday night, I was on Earth. Now, I've flown through space, fought some evil alien named Zarkon, met his daughter, eaten goo in some weird Castle. That's a lot to process in, uh... I don't know. What day is today?" He asked as he scratched his chin in thought. 

"It's the third quintant of the Spicolian movement. Hump day!" Coran informed the paladins. 

“Wednesday,” I mumbled. 

"It's a lot to process." 

"You must understand the stakes of our mission.” Allura stated before she out up an image of the universe that seemed to many distress beacons from planets, I went to myself, “Over the last 10,000 years, the Castle picked up distress beacons from the following locations. So, we have to assume that Zarkon has conquered almost the entire known universe.” 

She moved the screen to the Milky Way Galaxy, and went Earth where it seemed peaceful, unknowing the dangers that are near their next-door neighboring galaxies. 

“Earth is here, an attack on your planet in evitable,” she stated with sadness etched into her stone. 

“Oh no,” I hear the yellow paladin gasp at the idea of his home planet be captured by the galra. 

“The princess is right. Let’s go get to our lions and start training,” Shiro directed. 

“Wait, but I want to talk to the prisoners we rescued from the galra ship,” Pidge asked as she looked up to everyone. 

“No can-do number six, I have you ranked by height, m’kay,” he stated as he sized the green paladin with his hands, “The prisoners need to remain in the cryo-replenishers until tomorrow,” 

As everyone left the bridge, Coran called out to me. 

“Annalise, we must get you some type of armor so you can train as well,” he stated before he left the bridge, and I just followed him down the halls. 

We went the opposite direction of the rooms and toward where what I am guessing was the armory. Once he opened the doors to it, I was surprised by the weapons the Alteans kept. They were a peaceful race that used diplomacy than violence unlike the Galra. That's why it surprised me when I saw all the weapons these Alteans had. 

They weren’t like the galra’s where their fighting style required brute strength, like how they used axes or sledgehammers, or just small guns that require a good hold on them unless you could kill yourself. 

But it seemed that Alteans like using weapons that could help them move faster like swords that weren't made from the strongest metal that was heavy, small guns that were more used to slow down an enemy than kill, but they seemed to like to fight from afar from all of their guns that if they had the right speed build up could be lethal, whips that could let you fight about a good six feet away, and some bow and arrows that had different abilities. 

To the far corner I saw what must be the armor Coran said there were. He led the way to the armor, and I realized that instead of the heavy armor, their seemed to be light weight and used for people who are flexible. 

“Before Alteans were great diplomats, they had to defend themselves, so we have many weapons and armor from old that we had to use when Zarkon attacked Altea,” he said with a faraway look in his eyes. 

I just nodded my head as I walked over to the armor that was there. It seemed that the main colors the Alteans used was blue, white, and sometimes a splash of gold, but what really caught my attention was the black armor that was totally different from the rest. 

“Ah, I had a feeling you be attracted to that one. The galra that would fight alongside Altea wore that type of armor, always able to store many weapons,” Coran said as he put his hands behind his back. 

I darker armor looked like a blades uniform except it seems that it is infused with an Altean design. Instead of having two bent lines on both side of the chest area, it has what seemed like the ‘V’ that was on the paladins' armor, and instead of having two lines under the eyes on the mask, it has what looks like the Altean markings. 

“I wait for you outside the door for you to change,” Coran said as he took a few steps away before he remembered something, “Oh,” he walked toward the uniform I was going to put on, then underneath it he pushed on something then the wall was popped off as he pulled out a metal box. 

He opened the box and inside of it seemed like some galra weapons. 

“You can choose any weapon you would like in this room, but since you are used to the galra way of life, here are some of their weapons,” then he left and closed the door behind him. 

I looked up at the uniform, and took it down from where it was hovering from. I looked at it, then I placed on top of the box before I took off my nightgown, then quickly put on the uniform. Once it was on, it quickly morphed for my size. I was shorter than most galra, and I'm pretty sure that I am a little shorter than the blue paladin, but a bit taller than the red paladin. 

I put my knife in its sheath that was on my hip as I looked down at the box of weapons. There seemed to be three smoke bombs, about several throwing knifes made out of different metals, small guns that I know had way more firepower to them than they looked like they could hold, swords with different designs, a whip that looked old and used, and a collection of axes that were made from different black smiths. 

I took the throwing knives, and put them where I know they are supposed to be, and then I grab two guns to the legs. Once I feel good about my choices, I test out the suit and see that it works great for flexibility. I do a quick reverse round kick followed by a jump front kick, and pull out my knife, letting it extend as I spin it around my body before I bring down the sword on the imaginary enemy. 

Once I bring up the weapon, I look up and see the Altean weapons, and saw a black staff with accents of bright blue staff thing that seems to be able to extend and shorten. I snatch it, and place it where it is hidden at my lower back 

“Oh, wow number four, it fits like a glove, the others are practicing on making Voltron,” he said as we walk back to the bridge. 

_“Allura! What are you doing?!”_ I hear one of the paladins shout. 

“Running a diagnostic test on the Castle defenses and inspiring you! I believe in you, Paladins! Let fear be your guide! Form Voltron!” I heard the princess excitedly shout at the paladins. 

Once I got in the bridge, I saw the paladins flying around outside of the castle trying to avoid the lasers that the princess was firing at them. I was a little stunned, but I just shook my head and went to the corner of the room and hid from the view screen. 

_“_ _Oh_ _forget this I'm heading back to the castle,”_ the blue paladin announced, but as he ran backed to the castle, but he didn’t see the force field, so he only got thrown back. 

I smirked a little at it. 

_“Please stop! Have mercy on us!”_ Hunk shouted. 

“You think Zarkon is going to have mercy on you? He's probably on his way right now to destroy us all!” Allura said and I just sighed because it is probably true. 

She went over and pressed a few buttons before a robotic voice said, “Auto-lock-on engaged,” and she then turned towards me, and just stared at me like I did something surprising. 

“Let's go for a walk to the training deck, I want to make sure it is in good condition. For the paladins of course,” she added the last sentence like an afterthought, and with that she left the bridge, and I just followed her down the halls for the training room. 

It wasn’t a long walk to get to the training deck, but it was really tense as the princess lead us toward the room. Once we did get there, I tried to put everything to memory so if I wanted to train, I could just teleport to the deck. It was a big room that seemed to be mostly white except with a few accents of a bright blue that the Alteans seemed to love. 

The princess walked over to a side of the room until she brought out what seemed to be her uniform. 

“I’m going to go get into my armor, you can take off any weapons and do what you do before we hand-to-hand fight,” she commanded before she left with her pink dress flowing behind her. 

I just nodded to myself as I walked over to a corner of the room and took off all of my weapons, the staff, my throwing knives, the two guns, and my galra knife as I lied it on top of it all. Once I turned around, I saw the princess come into the deck with her armor. 

“I don’t want you to go easy on me,” she commented, and I just rolled my eyes. 

She walked to the middle of the deck, and she started to stretch, and I followed her to the center of the room and did a quick warm up. 

“Let’s begin shall we,” she commanded as she got in position, and I followed suit. 

We just stared at each other for a good few seconds before she lunged at me with all of her strength and speed. I just took a step to the side, and once she passed me, I took a rib shot, definitely holding back on my strength. She stopped to cover her side with her hand, and I took the opportunity to jump and kick her in the head, but she backed up, and narrowly missed my kick, so once I fell back down on the ground I squatted immediately and swept her legs under her. 

She stumbled backwards and I quickly got back up and quickly took a quick couple of steps toward her, and punched her in the gut, but before I could take my fist away from her stomach, she grabbed it and pulled, but I used the momentum to bring my other fist toward her face. I got her on the cheek as she staggered backwards, but brought her hands up to protect her face. 

“You are pretty good, I will give you credit, but I could tell you are holding back,” she stated as she rolled her neck. 

I just shrugged my shoulders with a smirk, “I am still beating you,” I simply stated. 

“I was able to get up to date with the news with the Universal Times that the empire has control over,” she said as we started to circle each other, “a lot of the articles were about the princess of the empire, the daughter of Zarkon,” she said as she tried to kick me. 

I just simply put my arm up to catch her leg and throw her to the side. She quickly got up and I quickly ran up to her and threw a punch at her neck, but she caught my arm with both of her hands. My fist was close to her throat, so before she could do anything, I extended my hand, making my fingertips jab into her throat. 

She let go of my arm as she staggered backwards and chocked. I waited for her to catch her breath and get in her stance. 

“It seems that the whole universe thinks you are the daughter of the emperor,” she said as she rolled her shoulders this time. 

I just shook my head, “I am not the daughter of that tyrant,” I stated simply. 

“Then who are you then?” she asked. 

Who am I? That's the question I have been asking myself for my whole life. I just shake my head as I quickly run up to her and did a back flip over quick enough for the princess not be able to catch up. I quickly swept her legs from underneath her, making her fall on her back. I quickly got on top of her and pulled my arm back. 

“I yield,” she said simply and I got off of her, and then I reach down to offer her my hand. 

She takes it with a nod and gets up. 

“You didn’t answer my question,” she stated, “Who are you Annalise?” she asked. 

I am really a nobody who was at the wrong place at the wrong time when Zarkon killed my mother, when he took me and made me who I am, a soldier who can’t seem to die. 

I just shrug my shoulders, “I’m just a soldier fighting in a 10,000-year war that seemed to have no end until Voltron awoke,” I stated simply. 

Because that is who I am. Another soldier in a long war. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> How was it?  
> Please tell me your thoughts in the COMMENTS or leave KUDOS!  
> (▀̿Ĺ̯▀̿ ̿)


	5. Some Assembly Required

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The paladins want a break, but they need to train to defeat Zarkon...
> 
> But Annalise drops a bombshell on them about what will happen after Zarkon gets defeated

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I am sorry that this is short, but I posted another update on my 'Into the Belly of the Best' and I just started online school so my works will be more spaced out, but hopefully you enjoy it. I was going to post this yesterday, but it got deleted so I had to sadly rewrite it.  
> This is the first half of the 2 episode in season 1, Assembly Required, but the next chapter will have different PoV's during their actual training.

“Um, princess, the paladins are back,” Coran said from the entrance of the deck. 

“Thank you, Coran,” Allura nodded as she gave me one more look and went to leave the deck, with Coran and I following behind her. 

We quickly got to the lounge where the paladins were sitting on the coach doing nothing. I stayed near Coran as Allura walked a few steps further into the lounge, but I could see half of her face. 

"You did it! You formed Voltron!" The princess cheers happily as she claps her hands in front of her with a smile 

"No,” Keith states simply with his arms crossed over his chest, “The shooting stopped and the particle barrier shut down, so we just flew in," He explained with a nod of his head. 

" _What?_ " Allura smile quickly turned upside down into a frown as he hands fell to her sides as her voice went dark, and an eyebrow was raised. The paladins looked a little worried. 

"Oh, right. Uh, sorry,” Coran stammers from behind the princess, “I had to turn off the Castle defenses to test the fire suppressors." He quickly defends himself with a sheepish smile. 

Shiro then enters the lounge with his helmet under his arm as he walks behind the couch, "What are you guys doing in here? We're not taking a break," he stated. 

"Shiro's right. You should be training." Allura added. 

"We've been training. When are we going back to Earth?" Hunk groaned as he slumped into his seat. 

"I'm not going back until I find my family." The green paladin firmly added. 

"Guys, there won't be an Earth if we don't figure out how to fight Zarkon." Shiro warns. 

They don’t know. 

“That won't be the end,” I state as the paladins look at me with different faces. 

“What do you mean?” Allura asked this time as her attention was also on me. 

I take a deep breathe before I start to explain, “What I mean is that even after Zarkon is defeated, we still have to worry about his heirs,” I state simply, but before I could continue, the green paladin spoke. 

“Who will be the next heir?” she asked as she fixed her glasses. 

“The next two heirs will be the actual blood son of Zarkon, Lotor who is an Altean-Galra half breed, and the other heir would be me,” I answer, “I may not be blood of the emperor, but I am still the daughter of Zarkon, so I still get a chance at the throne,” I sigh. 

“How do know who takes the throne? I mean it can’t be like rock paper scissors, right?” Hunk asked, and I just shake my head. 

“We would have to fight for the throne, but he will most likely win though,” I cross my arms over my chest, “Lotor has many _connections_ you can say, and because of that, he will be able to use allies in the fight, and I know which ones he’ll pick,” 

“Wait, so he could use allies, but you can’t?” Lance asked. 

“I could, but they have to be part galra, and like I said, Lotor has connections, like for an example he has four loyal generals who will do anything for him, and I may be a good fighter, but having to fight against five different opponents who are all different, and one of them can use magic, I'll be screwed,” I shrug, “depending on the fight, Lotor might try to kill, or just knock me out,” 

“So, when does the fight end?” Keith asked this time. 

“The galra way now a days is _Victory or Death,_ so it depends on how badly the sibling wants the other dead, because the galra also value family, so it depends if the winner would let the person who yield survive,” I explained. 

“How’s your connection to Lotor?” Allura asked this time, and I looked up at her to see her frowning slightly. 

“We never really got a long since we had to keep fighting each other, and once Zarkon made it perfectly clear that I was his favorite, Lotor despised me ever since, but we would get punished for every time we failed, I just beat Lotor more times than not,” I explained the situation. 

“What happens if there is no heir to the throne,” Shiro asked. 

“Well, a Kral Zera of course,” Coran piped in with a happy tone, but he only got confused looks from the paladins, so I quickly tried to recite what I learned from my studies about the ancient ceremony. 

“A Kral Zera is an ancient coronation ceremony held for the Galra empire for the choosing of a new emperor or empress. The strongest of the Galra, pure or half breed, go to the ancient temple on planet Feavie, they have to light up a torch with the flames from a giant bowl of purple flames on the top of the flight of stairs,” I recite, “Sometimes you die trying if you don’t get out in time, but that’s what will happen if there are no heirs to the throne,” I add. 

“Why are Galra so vicious,” Hunk groaned. 

Then Allura started to talk in Altean, making the other paladins send confuse looks over to her as she spoke, “Because Galra are vicious beasts that follow whatever leader could be the best fighter, no matter how cold their hearts could be, those menacing, quiz-” 

“Princess,” Coran firmly stopped her ranting on the Galra in common, as I just made sure my face was a mask like I learned when I was younger, showing no emotion. 

“Princess,” I start, and wait until she looks at me for me to speak, “Not all Galra are bad, or evil, not all of us believe in Zarkon, but for most Galrans they have to follow him to survive, to protect their _family,_ ” I say before I take a breath, and speak in Altean, “Not all of us are vicious beasts that love war,” I finish with a glare towards the princess, because I know that she is just not talking about the true evil Galra, but all of them from Zarkon, to the kit I used to watch at the Blades’ base. 

She wore her best glare she could, but I could see something else in her eyes, I just couldn’t name it. The air was thick with tension, but luckily Coran stepped forward with a clap of his hands. 

“Well then paladins,” he started with a cheery voice, “let’s go start training, um, Annalise, I think you should join us,” and this made me look away from the princess, and toward him instead. 

“What, why?” I asked with a tilt of my head, “last I checked I don’t really need to bond with the paladins to make Voltron,” 

“No you don’t, but since you might be a fighting alongside the paladins and Voltron, we need you guys to all be connected, also I can see where everyone is at so I could make the adjustments to the training deck,” Coran said as he petted his mustache then walked out the lounge. I just internally groaned and followed the paladins out of the lounge, leaving Allura behind. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So.  
> How was it?  
> I got my explanation on the Kral Zera from the Urban Dictionary.  
> Pretty please leave a comment and maybe kudos!  
> ☼.☼

**Author's Note:**

> So, how was it?  
> If you want me to add on of you WHAT IF's into my story, say so in the comments!  
> Please leave a comment and maybe a kudos.  
> (◕‿◕✿)


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